Every day I experience life in the world of healthcare IT, supporting 3000 doctors, 18000 faculty, and 3 million patients. In this blog I record my experiences with infrastructure, applications, policies, management, and governance as well as muse on such topics such as reducing our carbon footprint, standardizing data in healthcare, and living life to its fullest.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Kayaking the Charles River

My general rule of thumb is that I kayak when the sum of water temperature plus air temperature is greater than 120. The risk of hypothermia is much less when the water temperature is above 55 and the air temperature is above 65. This usually occurs sometime in May and lasts until October. Today's water temperature was 65 and the air temperature was 75F with a very light wind - perfect conditions.

The route I take passes through the "Lakes District" of the Charles - a wide, shallow, and particularly beautiful stretch for flatwater paddling.

I generally kayak between 5:30-6:30pm, stopping at the Charles River Canoe and Kayak boathouse on my way home. It's a great way to get some exercise and decompress - I can work a full day, kayak, have dinner with my family, and the continue to read and write until bedtime.

The early evening on the Charles is a perfect time to view widelife - Great Blue Herons, Trumpeter Swans, American River Otters, Snapping Turtles, and enormous Carp. The river is different every time I kayak with variable weather, changing wildlife, and new people. Today I did a rescue of a mother and daughter from Montreal who tipped their kayak in the deepest part of Charles. We did a T-rescue and all is well.

The boat I prefer is the Epic Kayaks V10 Surf Ski, a fast 17" wide boat that's a racing and fitness kayak, just unstable enough to keep the trip very challenging. In windy or turbulent conditions, I'll pick the Epic 18X. Here's my guide to choosing a kayak.

What I want to know is, John how you manage to get out of the office in time to drive to the start of the Kayaking, drive home, hang with the family, write your blog posts, and still sleep--meanwhile doing what most of us think is a pretty demanding job! Did you stretch the space-time continuum somewhere or so you just type REALLY fast!

Yes, you are a truly amazing man. I can't wait to meet you at our NAHSL 2010 conference next year. I read blog all the time and am still wondering what we shall you speak on. You are so prolific on so many topics. Sue